Practice apparatus for football and like games



June 13, 1939. R. M. EVANS 2,152,073

PRACTICE APPARATUS FOR FOOTBALL AND LIKE GAMES Filed April 12, 1937 j? Jive/7% 6 27?. 271M221 AZi ZEWWI 21a Patented June 13, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRACTICE APPARATUS FOR FOOTBALL AND LIKE GAMES 8 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a practice apparatus for foot ball and like games which is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A further object is to provide practice apparatus comprising a heavy upstanding body member with a padded element or other element supported thereon for engagement by players during the practice of foot ball or like games, the body member being provided With a resilient base to absorb the shock of an impact of a player with the apparatus.

A further object is to provide a hollow cone shaped body member mounted on a tire casing which is secured fiatwise against the base thereof thus providing a resilient supporting base, the body member being adapted for being weighted by filling it with sand or other inexpensive weighting material and apparatus to be engaged by the players being mounted on the body member.

A further object is to provide a laterally extending arm on the body member having a padded arrangement on its outer end such as a head-like arrangement covered by a foot ball a head gear, such a device being particularly adaptable for practicing stiff arm and side step maneuvers which are quite important to a foot ball player especially in open field running.

A further object is to provide an apparatus which is adapted for other purposes as well, such as supporting tackling dummies and providing a means to develop shoulder action in blocking.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, portions being broken away and other portions shown in section to illustrate the construction.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, sectional view on the line 3--3 of Figure 2, showing the connection of a pivoted adjustable arm with the body member.

Figure 4 is a side elevation showing a pad applied to the apparatus for blocking practice.

Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in section of the outer end of the arm supporting a practice dummy.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view showing two of the devices supporting a tackling dummy; and

Figure '7 is a. diagrammatic plan view showing how a plurality of the devices are set relative to each other to develop stiff arm, side step and other attendant actions during practices.

On the accompanying drawing, I have used the reference numeral ill to indicate a resilient base which is preferably formed of a tire casing of suitable size. A base plate I2 is secured to the casing Ill as by bolts I4 extending through the plate and the side wall of the casing; A sheet metal cone I6 is welded to the base plate l2 and a head I8 is secured to the apex thereof. By way of illustration I show a sleeve-like extension extending into the apex of the cone and secured by cap screws 22.

A pivot pin 24 is supported by the head IS, the head being preferably bifurcated; an arm 26 has one end mounted in the bifurcation of the head It and pivoted on the pin 24.

The arm 26 can be adjusted to various positions as shown by full and dotted lines in Figure 2 and retained or locked in any of the positions desired by a pin 28 extending through perforations 30 of the head I8 and perforations 32 of a sector 34 formed on the arm 26.

The outer end of the arm 26 is provided with a padded element comprising for instance a hollow metal member 36 secured to the flange 38 of the arm 26 by cap screws 40 and a discarded foot ball head gear 42 to furnish the padding.

The cone member I6 is provided with a flared upper end indicated at 44 and this portion, as well as the upper portion of the body member I5, will be covered by a padding 46 for certain practice maneuvers as will hereinafter be described. The arm 26 is provided with a perforation 48 in which a chain may be hooked and the head member 36 may also be provided with perforations 50 (see Figure 5) for a similar purpose, as will hereinafter appear.

Practical operation The hours for foot ball practice in most schools and colleges are rather limited. Accordingly any mechanical aids which will quickly develop desirable maneuvers tend to increase the possibility of turning out a winning team. One of the maneuvers which has heretofore been sadly neglected is stiff arming. A player with the ball, when running across the field and approached by a tackler, can generally evade the tackler if he has properly developed stiif arming. This consists in holding the ball in one arm and thrusting the other arm outwardly toward the tacklers head while at the same time side stepping to prevent the tacklers arms from catching the legs of the player carrying the ball and changing direction to get away from the tackler. Then when the tackler approaches on the other side, the runner must change the ball to his other arm and stiff arm the second tackler with his then free arm.

I have found that the necessary leg action and change of pace can be quickly and efficiently developed by the use of a plurality of my devices,

such for instance as shown in Figure '7. The direction and path of the player with the ball is indicated at 52. He successively stilf arms each device, taking a zig zag course from one to the next, which develops his side step and ball shifting ability'to a fine degree.

Since the device is mounted on a resilient base, the shock of the impact of the players stiff arm with the padding 42 is effectively absorbed with approximately the same degree that a tacklers body would absorb such an impact. Thus the necessary practice may behadwithout the necessity of having some of the players take the place of the practice device which I have provided' and accordingly all the playerscan practice on the device without wasting any of their practice time.

To develop shoulder action in blocking, the pad 46 may be used and since the shoulder push must be upwardly and forwardly, I have provided an enlargement I 4 for the players shoulder to engage against, the base H] providing the resiliency desired to prevent bruising the players shoulder and as much push can be put into the practice as desired since the apparatus is quite heavy when filled with sand 54 as illustrated in Figure 2. The device can be filled to any extent desired with sand and thus weighted to any degree desired in an inexpensive manner.

In foot ball practice, dummies such as indicated at 56, are used and one of the devices can be used to support such a dummy by means of a chain 58 and a hook 60 extending through the perforations 5B in Figure 5. 'Where a tackling dummy, such as 62 in Figure 6, is used, it is usually desirable to provide a more rigid support and accordingly two of the devices can be used with a chain 64 having a hook on each end engaging the perforation 48 of each arm of the two devices.

Ihave shown how my apparatus can be used in a plurality of different manners for practicing foot ball and the like. It is also adapted for maneuvers other than those outlined, the main advantage being in the provision of an inexpensive but resilient and heavy body member for supporting 1 various apparatus. By providing the base member ID in the form of a tire casing or other annular member, it is a comparatively easy matter to move the apparatus from one position to another by tipping it to a position so that the tire casing can roll along the ground, the upper end being supported by the person moving the device.

Thus, although the apparatus is too heavy to conveniently lift and carry from one position to another, it can be readily rolled to the desired position.

The apparatus is also usable on gymnasium floors or the like as the casing I!) cannot scratch the floor and neither does it have to be bolted to the floor.

Changes such as suggested and others may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of. mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a practice apparatus of the character described, a body member, a tire casing secured flatwise against the base thereof to provide a resilient support therefor, a head mounted on the apex of said cone shaped member, an arm' pivoted to said head, means for locking said arm in any adjusted position about the pivot relative to said head and a padded element on the outer end of said arm.

2. In a practice apparatus of the character described, a body member, a tire casing secured fiatwise against the base thereof to provide a resilient support therefor, a head mounted on the top of said member, an arm extending laterally from said head, a padded element on the outer end of said arm and sand or the like in said body member to weight the same against tendency totip over when said padded element is struck and to load said tire casing to place it under tension for resisting tipping over of said body member.

3. In a practice apparatus of the character described, a body member, a tire casing secured flatwise against the base thereof to provide a resilient support therefor, an arm extendin laterally from the upper end of said body member beyond the circumference of the base and a padded element on the outer end of said arm.

a. In a device of the class described, a body member, a resilient base therefor, an arm pivoted thereto, a padded element on the outer end of said arm and means for locking said arm against pivotal movement.

5. In a device of the class described, a body member, a flat resilient base therefor adapted to yield without tipping when struck and apparatus mounted on said body member for engagement by players practicing foot ball or like games, said apparatus including padding surrounding said body member at a diameter less than fiat portion of the base, said body member having a flared upper end also covered by said padding, said flared end being adapted to be engaged by a, players shoulder and being of sufficient extent to pre vent disengagement of his shoulder therewith when he moves his shoulder upwardly and toward said body member.

6. In a device of the class described, a body member, a flat resilient base therefor and apparatus mounted on said body member for engagement by players practicing foot ball or like games, said apparatus comprising an arm extending laterally beyond said base and a dummy swung from said arm.

7. In a device of the class described, a body member, a resilient base therefor and apparatus mounted on said bodyv member for engagement by players practicing foot ball or like games, said apparatus comprising a laterally extending arm having a padded outer end, said outer end being vertically adjustable relative to said body mem ber.

8. In a device of the class described, a body member, a resilient base therefor and apparatus mounted on said body member for engagement by players practicing football or like games, said apparatus comprising an upstanding perforated member, a pivot pin through the perforation thereof, an arm pivoted on said pivot pin, means supported by the outer end of said arm for engagement by said players and means forlocking said arm at diiferent pivotal positions.

ROBERT M. EVANS. I 

